If your house is anything like our house, you are probably one piece of creche- or primary school artwork away from drowning in brightly painted paper.
Seriously, my kids bring home various pieces of art every single day, and at present, the pile on our dining table and stack on top of the fridge are both threatening to topple over if one more painting or colouring book tear-out is added.
As a mum, I obviously think they are both the next Picasso and would LOVE to keep every single scribble and half-completed painting. But as someone who is also quite OCD when it comes to keeping the house tidy, and borderline minimal as far as decor is concerned, I realize that this is not even close to possible.
Which is why I have started looking into my options when it comes to keeping SOME of it, and displaying it for the world to see, instead of keeping piles upon piles on every free surface, only to move it somewhere else when we have to eat dinner/dust/make room for something else.
One option I am quite taken with is the (oh-so-simple) idea of just displaying a lot of these original pieces of art (that you will never be able to find elsewhere!) on some string attached to the wall. Just clipping the art on with little wooden pegs, adding in a couple of photos in the mix, and voila; an entire wall filled with love and memories.
Another way of going about the whole art display, it to combine sentimentality with style, and mix my children’s art with some beautiful art photography and cool prints (that I have collected over the years, but have yet to find a home for) and create a gorgeous framed gallery wall.
I love this idea by Camille Styles, an eclectic mix of kids’ art and prints, an easy option that will allow you to keep adding to the wall, changing it up and let it grow and evolve along with your family.
I think the main bit in accomplishing this, is to plan the wall carefully and find the perfect layout.
A good way of doing this is by testing the layout out on the floor. Styles suggests laying down all the framed bits you want to include in your gallery wall, and then once you have decided on what way you want to organize your wall, you can use paper (a different colour than your wall) to trace around the edges of each frame that you’re planning to hang, label it with what piece it is meant to be, and use painter’s tape to apply to the wall in the pattern that you laid out on the floor.
Clever? I know.
The beauty of this step is that it allows you to move things around and correct your measurements before you actually hammer nails into the wall!
Another option is to make a gallery wall by using your children’s art alongside gorgeous family photos, something which would look really lovely and personal, I think. You can make it interesting by picking different frames and making really colourful pieces of children’s art pop against the more subtle black-and-white pictures also going up on the wall.
Another fun and lovely option is to turn your kids’ artwork into a gorgeous, colourful coffee table book, like this one here from Artfulparent.com.
This would work in much the same way as you would create a photo book, and a quick Google search will no doubt leave you with lots of options. I always find Snapfish.ie great for these sort of things.
The sky (and your available wall space) is the limit when it comes to this one, I think. And in the meantime, until I have made my mind up fully over which gallery wall style to go with, I am pinning inspiration to my heart’s content.
Let us know if YOU have displayed your children’s artwork in unique and beautiful ways! Send me an e-mail and show us at Trine.Jensen@HerFamily.ie
(Images via Pinterest)
